The way my fish tank should have been.

This has been quite a week, we have been very busy setting up our new fish tank that Nana gave the girls for Christmas. We have always had a variety of interesting pets over the years, an iguana called Sundance, which is whole story in itself, a goldfish called Mr. Fish who lived for many years, two tree frogs, two mini frogs and a hermit crab. All of these animals lived a good life with us, slightly neglected but good just the same, may they rest in peace.

We have been taking a “pet break” for a while as we have been sharing my mothers dog Daisy as a sort or part-time pet. Needless to say the girls were crying for a new “something.” Nana surprised them with a new fish tank and all was right with the world.

So, we got the 5 gallon tank all filled with colored sand and decorations, I think it looks pretty cool I must say. The girls and I went to Petsmart to select our fish. I thought we were going to grab a fish and go, but we had a full education on goldfish, fish that need a heater, etc, etc. Seriously, we just need a basic goldfish, one that lives in cold water, will need minimal care and we are good. The girls selected a calico goldfish and my youngest a black goldfish with big bulging eyes. She thought he was the greatest, hence the name Blackie Big Eyes. We acclimated them to our tank and had a whole 24 hours of bliss.

One morning we look at Big Eyes and he is covered in this grey like matter, almost like a mold. He was tilting sideways and we knew this wasn’t good. My youngest asked if he was going to be ok, and I honestly couldn’t say. So once they got on the bus, I scooped up my little fish and headed to the local pet store, not Petsmart as they would have flushed him away.

There I am driving with my fish in a container, feeling awful for this little guy that was entrusted to us. ( I also have to say that I felt like a crazy woman driving around with this fish, maybe I need to go back to work full time) The owner of the pet store said we had a very sick fish and that it would take about six weeks for him to get better. I walked out with $25 worth of items, an anti fungal for all sorts of fish ailments, a P.H kit for my water and some other misc fish items. The process was that I was to treat the tank every 24 hours while switching out half the water and do this for six days. This was as bad as having to rotate my new mattress for three months, which I might add I had to do this morning.

So back in my anti-fungal treated water, I removed the filter and sat and waited.  Big eyes looked awful, but I wanted to see if we could help this $5 fish. After three days he finally passed and I didn’t know what to do with him. Did I save him for my daughter or flush him away? There is no parenting handbook for this situation. I decided to take a picture of him in the toilet to show her. I know you are cringing right now, its really weird to do. I wanted her to at least get to see him.

Poor Big Eyes

I told my youngest about Big Eyes and having flushed him down the toilet and showed her the picture. She was mad that I didn’t save him to bury him in the yard. I told her that he was flushed out to the ocean to be with the other fish. She said ” he’s not with the other fish he’s in the sewer with all the poop.” Ok, yes she was right, I stated they clean the water and have two pipes, one for clean water and one for sewer. My lies just kept getting worse and worse, so it was time to kiss and say goodnight.

May he rest in peace

I turned out to be no better than Petsmart flushing away our short lived pet, and also proved that the only pet we should have is an air plant.

Note: My daughter just walked down and saw this post and said ” hey don’t flush my next fish down the toilet Missy!.”.. note to self.